(Training period - October 1st 2011 to December 28th 2011)
“As a mother of seven kids I didn’t think I had time to think of myself. My self image was at rock bottom and I treated myself like a dust-bin. I felt guilty constantly. I felt like an onlooker in my own life. After years and years of yo-yo dieting I had achieved my target weight 3 times but then life kicked in and I would put the weight back on again. I knew I could lose weight but I hesitated because I though I would end up putting it back on again because that is what I always did. I kept thinking that if I lost the weight again - it would be like a house of cards that would inevitably fall down.
Everyone has their own personal inner pain and brokenness. But for overweight people their brokenness is on display. They have to wear the evidence of it like a shameful sign around their necks. Many people hide their problems with anger or substance abuse but overweight people walk around with theirs on display all day long like a sign around their necks that says ‘I’m broken and I’m not worth it.’
During my mentoring with The Energy Coach I shared my story about food and self image for the fist time. It was like I confessed everything! Seeing it on paper helped - I had never really seen it in the light of day. I got annoyed about my old story about why I couldn’t lose weight. I knew that I had to surrender now or keep going with the same behavior so I said ‘STOP! I’ve had enough of this!’ The process of telling my story out loud made me feel that I am in control of my own destiny, more empowered.
I changed the metaphors I had used to describe my life. I felt that I had been treating my body like a bin. I decided to ask ‘How would I treat myself if I felt like a princess!’ I decided to focus on that fact that I am focusing on the real root causes of my weight issues. Therefore this time I am building a house of bricks rather than a house of cards.
For the first time I really looked at the roots of my unhealthy eating. I found out why I used food as a crutch. I looked at my self image - Why I was doing that to myself? Why was I feeling so disempowered?
I was by no means starving during the three months I lost 42 pounds. I ate lots of live healthy foods but I wasn’t perfect! I did a couple of days drinking smoothies only when my weight loss slowed down because I wanted to hit my target quickly. I didn’t stick to a specific regime/program.
During the hard moments I had to remember that I was worth it. At times I didn’t feel like continuing. People expected me to eat unhealthy foods and sometimes dropped in junk food as a gift which was tempting. I remembered that feeding an emotion wasn’t going to heal the emotion - that helped me to avoid eating some donuts - that was a real breakthrough moment for me. To get through a few tough times I thought about what cost would it have on my daughter if I treat myself disrespectfully again - she looks up to me and kids copy what they see!
I recommend working with Michael & The Energy Coach because it was a safe place for me to tell my story. He understood what it was like because he has been through the process himself. He helped me to focus on the roots of the problem rather than just telling me what I need to do. I felt that I had someone rooting for me. The process was empowering. It gave me the courage to go forward and the levels of follow up and accountability were exceptional. It has helped my relationships and feeling more confident has helped me to go back to learning and focus on my career for the first time in years.”
Jenny,
Dublin.
(Name changed to protect Jenny's privacy)
